AudioMidi no-brainer: Miroslav Philharmonik CE for just $15!

[daniel.sneed]

[...]The Classik Edition does not include any wind-controller based patches.

I've noticed that. Won't play them with my EWI-USB. They will stay some *keyboard and wheel* things.

[buzzsmith]

Just an update:

TS did get back to me and suggested opening the folders and making sure that all 3 Sharing and Permissions were set to "Read and Write", repair disc permissions and even move the Instruments folder to the desktop as an experiment. (I'm condensing about 5 emails here.)

When I did move the folder to the desktop I did a Get Info to see if all three Sharing/Permissions were still set correctly and noticed that the actual size of the folder was only 110.4 megs.(?) I know I downloaded about 1.5GB.

So, I trashed the other Instrument folder and remounted the 2 .dmgs. Then, before I did anything else, I created the destination folder. Then I launched the first of the 2 sound installers and pointed it to the new folder and the same for the second.

When launching MP-CE I then pointed it to the new Instruments folder using the hard to see "prefs" button.

Now I have all that I paid for (I know it was just $15) but, so far, all is OK.

Prior to this, I realized I only had about a third or less of the library and half of those weren't working.

Buzzy

[Shooshie]

First, a rant. Skip it if you are inclined:

• While I haven't checked every instrument to see if it's working, I can now say that it all appears to be working OK. This would have gone MUCH easier with a clear set of instructions provided in the beginning, without a half-dozen OTHER sets of instructions that somehow get mixed into the process, which are irrelevant to this version. For example, the digital ID gets applied automatically. There is no place in which you actually have to type that to make this work. Well, maybe for Sampletank. I don't remember now.
  
  I really do not want to gloss over the incredibly convoluted and difficult path I had to take in getting this installed and working, but I must also make an important distinction:
  
  For some reason, they never sent me the things they sent everyone else. I had to ask for everything, and when they finally sent me something, it was ONLY one serial number. Still no instructions. Still nothing.
  
  I think that for the majority of customers, probably mostly everyone else, they send out what is needed. Even then it's a very convoluted process, but if you follow directions, it probably works. This is truly one of the more ridiculous installs I've ever seen. But let's put that behind us now.
  
  It took me a while to get it to work in DP. For some reason it would not let me load them directly into a V-Rack. I had to start by creating an Instrument Track in the Tracks Overview Window, and THEN moving them to a V-Rack. Then they worked.

Now, about this library… and a very fine one it is!
Once everything was working, I was VERY impressed with the sounds. I'm using a WX-5 to play the samples, and these are beautifully recorded samples. In fact, this is among the best VI's I have now, when played with Breath Control. Wonderful stuff. For $15, this is simply a gift.

The Old Miroslav Vitous samples, from the 1980's through about 2004:

• I had avoided Miroslav for years, because I have two or three versions of it sitting around. These were bare-bones samples. In my old versions it was very hard to figure out which ones were which, as they did not come with interfaces that categorized things. Just bare samples with cryptic names. I used them in Mach Five 2, and before that, I used them in my Kurzweil 2600. So, naturally I was never terribly impressed with Miroslav, at least after the VI craze started in earnest. Even MOTU Symphonic Instrument gave me more control over its samples -- and produced better results -- than the OLD Miroslav stuff. This may be why they are giving these away at $15. They must know that Miro has a bad rap, a preexisting prejudice against the old versions in the many forms they took.

And the NEW Miroslav Philharmonik:
But THESE samples in this Sampletank interface are a whole new bag. This is great. Truly one of the best bargains in this line of work. I spent many hours last night playing Partita #3 for Solo Violin by Bach. The solo violin is fairly well suited for this, but the response is a little slow. It takes it a moment to ramp up into full tone and vibrato, and these movements -- mainly the Preludio -- require a spinning vibrato on an instant attack. But for the other movements it really worked well. Using a bit of pedal (CC#64) and some of the built-in "hold" in the WX-5, I was able to handle most of the double stops realistically. Of course, I've played these for years on soprano sax, and had already mastered a double stop technique that was convincing even without the ability to sustain two notes, but the fact that I could do it here with a real violin sound and sustain long chords was really a joy. I have trouble getting VSL to respond this musically.

To set up any item for alternate controls, you click on the little button top-right of center labeled "ctl," then click on the control you want to assign to a new controller. (we have three meanings for the same word… gets hard to explain) A little dialog box comes up. You'll see how it works. Very clear. But… to change a value isn't so clear. You have to click in the box and drag up or down to change the controller. It just goes up the standard MIDI controller list, using names when they are appropriate, such as Breath Control for CC#2, Expression for CC#11, and so on.

The effects are a little harder to figure out. There are two kinds of effects: Part effects and Send effects. To access the Send effects you must click on Send (left side) and then turn on the effect you want (#1 - #4). Then you have to turn up their levels in the row of send level knobs in the middle of the interface, which only appear when you click on Send.

This is a wonderful little library. They've been telling us about it for a long time, but I thought they were lying. (hey, it's advertising. EVERY library is the greatest thing since the violin bow) It's a pleasant surprise to find that the samples that Miroslav Vitous recorded back in the 1980's when he was in Weather Report are still viable today.

This really IS a no-brainer. No matter how much trouble you have (or don't have) installing it, just buy this thing. Best $15 you'll ever spend, especially if you use a MIDI Wind Controller or a Yamaha BC3 headset. And maybe the most frustrating for a few hours, if they neglect to send you the stuff you need to install it.

Shooshie

PS: If you wish to use a BC3 headset, but your keyboard does not have a BC port, you'll also need a breath control converter box.

[daniel.sneed]

[...]To set up any item for alternate controls, you click on the little button top-right of center labeled "ctl," then click on the control you want to assign to a new controller. (we have three meanings for the same word… gets hard to explain) A little dialog box comes up. You'll see how it works. Very clear. But… to change a value isn't so clear. You have to click in the box and drag up or down to change the controller. It just goes up the standard MIDI controller list, using names when they are appropriate, such as Breath Control for CC#2, Expression for CC#11, and so on.[...]

Wow! Hip, hip, hurray! Cheers! This is the tip I needed. Thanks so much Shooshie!
My best 15$ spent on music gear in years!

[crduval]

Working well for me, and I had no problems once I pointed the VI to where I stored the samples. Surprisingly good - a true no brainer at $15.

I don't love the IK browser, in fact it sometimes puts me off using my IK samples unless I know exactly what I want, but it was well worth the clunky navigating to check out these nice samples.

Thank you for the heads up!

[daniel.sneed]

These samples are definitely very good sounding to my ears.
Sure, they are dedicated to orchestral music, which is obvious.

In fact, I'd be pleased to get such picky sounding instruments with somewhat less room ambiance. In some of my projects, it could help much in keeping things tight with solo instrument playing.

Does full version offer some close miked instruments too ?
In case it does, how do you feel about them ?

[Shooshie]

To my knowledge, all the Miroslav samples are done in the same Czech concert hall. I had some correspondence with IKM in which they said these ARE the original Miro samples, but with new programming. To have close-micced samples would have required another session fairly recently, but that email assures us all that these are the original samples, just remastered, programmed for the new interface, and so forth. Their ambience was always a selling point, so I doubt that there is any way to cancel it.

Shooshie

[daniel.sneed]

Thanks, Shooshie, for making it clear.
The hall sound is very nice indeed, and I like it.

And, of course, when it comes to music, there's no *One size fits all*!
This means that there is no such thing as a *best library*. But libraries do, or don't, fulfill your expectations on a project. And that's alright with me.

And, as I wrote before, this is still my best 15$ spent on musical gear.

[daniel.sneed]

I just realized, that I saw that (actual) Czech Philarmonic Orchestra, two month ago in Luxembourg. Wonderful sound. Some may say *harsh* or *roots*, but I did love it. What a strength ! A great personnality, if I may say some orchestras have one.

They were playing the Mahler's 10th symphony and his Kindertotenlieder.
The voice was Thomas Hampson. He's my far preferred actual baryton voice.

In Luxembourg, the Philarmonie concert hall has a very good tone, too.

[mhschmieder]

Yes, I've heard them under Vlademir Ashkenazy while they were on tour in SF. When I was in Prague in winter 2006, I mostly saw operas and folk music plus chamber music (Joesf Suk). So I actually haven't been in the hall in which these samples were recorded.

I wonder if there will be a culled set from the more recent Miroslav sessions as an update from IKM? Curiosity about the follow-on deal is killing me!

[bdr]

Has anyone seen an upgrade price to the full version? I had a look around the IK site, could only find prices for new versions.

[mhschmieder]

I think you could place a bet that that will be forthcoming once this offer ends.

There WILL be a follow-on offer (or maybe more than one). They just don't say what.

[williemyers]

Has anyone seen an upgrade price to the full version

bdr, somone over on the IK wrote in asking about this. answer from IK was that there is no upgrade path from CE to full. http://www.ikmultimedia.com/forum/viewt ... f=12&t=740" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
All they'll offer is an upgrade to 'Total Workstation 2 Instruments Bundle' and 'Total Studio 2 Bundle'....altogether different beasts from MiroPhil Full.
However, you can get (or will soon be able to get) a Full version from American Music Supply
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... OSLAV-LIST" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for about $180. That, plus the $15 for the no brainer puts you at $195 total - - less than the list price for CE!

[bdr]

Thanks for the info Willie.

[grouse]

I went for this too and the whole thing was very straightforward for me. It just involved a couple of emails from IK and a littlke bit of waiting for said emails.
I haven't moved the sounds from my main hard drive yet though.
One thing I felt wasn't clear was whether you actually needed SampleTank to play the Miroslav Philharmonik and you don't, in case anyone else is confused about this.
Thanks for the heads up about this deal!